When I Knew
by sorion
Summary: Tony/Bruce Everyone knew, it was only a matter of when. Part of my "Awesome Twosome" universe.


**Title:** When I Knew  
**Author:** **sorion**  
**Fandom:** Iron Man / Batman  
**Pairing:** Tony/Bruce  
**Genre:** slash, romance  
**Rating:** PG  
**Word Count:** ~5000  
**Disclaimer:** The characters in this story belong to DC and Marvel, respectively. No harm intended, no profit made.  
**A/N:** Part of the **Awesome Twosome** universe. Set pretty much all through the 'verse. You'll see what I mean ;)  
**Summary:** Everyone could see it. It was only a question of when.

**Series Timeline:** Who Da Man? | Pleased to Meet You | Honey, I'm Home | Lady Tremaine | When I Knew

* * *

**When I Knew**

_**Pepper**_

Pepper remembered exactly when she knew that Bruce Wayne was more than another fling to Tony. Sure, she'd had her suspicions that maybe another orphaned, traumatised, billionaire superhero might cause a different reaction in her boss; she had even dared to hope that out of the physical there might grow a friendship and even trust that was very, very needed.

She had not really expected what she did find in the end, however.

Tony had pretty much locked himself in his shop after Wayne had left, almost two weeks earlier. That was in itself not surprising, Tony regularly locked himself in his shop. It had been much more surprising that while Wayne had been there, there was hardly any time spent hauled up between tools and utensils and animated sketches, and if there was, Bruce Wayne was right there along for the ride.

Pepper had expected Tony to spend more time tinkering, now that he was not being suitably distracted.

So when she went down there to get some contracts signed by Tony, she found him working at his station, doing some detailed work on something that looked... like it belonged to Batman a lot more than Iron Man.

She smiled benignly. Another thing that didn't surprise her.

"Good morning, Mr Stark."

Tony slowly lowered his hands, but kept his eyes on his work. He didn't move for a long time and just waited for Pepper to leave on the table whatever she came here to leave for him.

Pepper didn't immediately notice the odd mood and put the pad next to Tony's elbow.

"Hey, Pep..." he said, almost demurely, trying to get her attention that he always had, anyway.

That made her look up.

"I did something stupid."

And _that_ made her worried. "Stupid?" She asked, cautiously. She shouldn't have been worried. Tony did stupid things, regularly, and she had always found ways to deal with those, so far.

Tony, as if reading her mind or just knowing her really well, answered: "Of all the stupid things to pull... this one is easily the stupidest."

Oh dear. "We can deal with it," she said optimistically, if nervously.

Tony's fingers played with a wire sticking out from whatever the hell he was working on.

"Is it... to do with Bruce Wayne? You know..." She nodded towards the invention, not wanting to say Batman out loud.

Tony's eyes were still firmly on his work, even though they were looking through it. "You know," he started, "he was here for one week. _One_." He looked up at her, appearing shocked, holding up a finger for emphasis.

Pepper didn't really know what to make of this. "And you'll meet up on Monday." Well, whatever Tony was worried about, this had nothing to do with it, according to his reaction.

He averted his eyes, again. "And he left less than two weeks ago."

Pepper blinked.

Tony stood and walked away, coming to a standstill with his back to her. "I am meeting him in three days, as you just mentioned correctly." He sounded defeated.

"You do." Pepper still didn't know what he was on about. From what he said, it seemed like Tony missed the other man, but that still didn't explain what the problem was that she wanted to deal with before it could blow up completely. She had learned that much in all her years working with him.

"And all I wanna do," he announced, firmly, turning around, "is put on my armour," he pointed towards the suit, "fly over to Gotham and..." he waved his arms, helplessly, "... and... just..." He sighed.

"Just?"

"_Marry_ the fucker!"

That was... not something her years with him would have prepared her for, but after the first second of shock, she was terribly amused, which kind of made Tony angrier.

"What?" He looked at her darkly.

"Well, what's stopping you?"

"What?" Tony demanded incredulously, his voice taking on a rather unmanly and squeaky quality.

Pepper bit her lips to keep herself from laughing out loud. As it was, she just smiled widely. "Well," she cleared her throat and schooled her expression into one that looked a little less like she was laughing at him, "maybe you should skip the suit and the wedding at this point, but you _do_ have a jet..." she ended the sentence making it sound like a question, urging him on.

Tony blinked and looked like he hadn't even thought of that.

Pepper's lip twitched. "Shall I have the plane readied for you, Mr Stark?"

Tony hesitated for another moment, then smirked. "You shall," he declared and stalked out of the shop.

"Make sure you pack a suit, in case you stay until Monday," she called after him, while knowing damn well that in the end she would be the one doing the packing, anyway.

That had been when she knew that Tony was head over heels. It took until the following Monday, when she arrived to join Tony for the meeting, for her to see that it might even become more than that.

Tony Stark and Bruce Wayne had walked towards her, both in impeccable suits, both wearing a smug but content expression, both pairs of steps in sync...  
She had to smile.

Pepper knew. And, unbeknownst to her, she already knew more than the stubborn men in question.

* * *

_**Alfred**_

Alfred knew that he hadn't seen a smile like the one on Bruce Wayne when he told him that maybe Tony Stark might be a bit more than a friend in a long time, and he even told this the man.

However, Alfred being very protective of Bruce, he'd had doubts about Mr Stark. He had done some research when Bruce had been in Malibu, and he had extended that research when he heard about the... developments. The second part of the research was a lot more extended than it should have been, legally speaking... but Alfred could be as shady in that respect as his employer.

He had found out numerous things about Tony Stark. Most of them not very flattering to the man's character. He was a womanising, extravagant, debauched, reinless, drinking playboy. Then there was the Iron Man side to him, which didn't want to fit into the picture Alfred had of him, no matter how hard he tried, except maybe for the huge ego.

But it seemed like Bruce had managed to make that connection and liked what he found. And Alfred trusted Bruce's judgement.

Which was why he was certainly surprised when a car came driving up to the manor, the driver announcing "Tony Stark for Bruce Wayne" into the receiver at the front gate, but not as surprised as he could have been.

Alfred opened the gate without further questioning and went to the door to welcome the guest.

Tony Stark came alone, driving a sports car and stopped right in front of the steps leading up to the front door. He got out of the car, appearing somewhat hesitant, even though he tried to conceal it.

Alfred nodded at him. "Mr Stark. Good evening." He walked down the stairs and held out his hand. "I am Alfred."

Tony directed wide and almost insecure eyes at the other man that looked nothing like the cocky and self-assured ones he always sported when in public and took the offered hand.  
"Nice to meet you. Bruce told me a lot about you."

Alfred nodded again and smiled. "I'm afraid, Master Bruce is currently out, but you are of course welcome to stay and wait for him." Alfred was pleased to notice that the dark eyes became sharp in a second when Tony caught the certain undertone Alfred had added to _'out'_.

"Is he alright?" Tony asked.

"He was last time I checked, Sir." Alfred pointed towards the garage. "Might I suggest you park your car and join me inside? We can discuss the details, there."

"Done," Tony agreed, immediately and went back to his car to do as Alfred told him.

Alfred expected Tony in the lobby and led him straight to the entrance to the cave, seeing no reason not to. He also noticed how Tony eyed the lock on the secret door sceptically.  
"Is something the matter, Mr Stark?"

"The entrance is... inventive," he said, choosing his words carefully, while following Alfred down the steps, "but it might be discovered."

Alfred smiled. "You assume that an intruder would get as far as the entrance."

Tony returned the smile. "I'm guessing that he wouldn't then?"

Alfred turned on the light. "Your guess is correct." He was then granted the satisfaction of Tony Stark staring down the steps and into the cave in awe.

The awe turned to mischievous amusement in a short moment. "Gothic..."

Alfred chuckled. "As Master Bruce keeps reminding me: bats are nocturnal."

Tony smirked at him. "Nothing speaks against lighting up the night a bit, though, right?" Tony headed right for the computer that was currently running and keeping tabs of one Batman.

Alfred couldn't but agree. Maybe Bruce was right and this man wasn't all he appeared to be, after all. He was quite... lively and charming, even in just the few moments since he'd met him.

Tony operated the computer as if he'd never had a different model in front of him, even though Alfred knew that Tony couldn't possibly have seen this exact type of hardware.  
"He seems to be in a bit of a tight spot," he said, frowning.

Alfred stepped up next to him. "He should still be able to manage." Tight, yes, but not too tight.

"Hm," Tony made and scanned the computer for... he smirked and pointed it out to Alfred. "Will he be upset if I play?"

"Sir..." Alfred hesitated. "I am not sure if..."

But Tony had already started the connection. "Showtime," he declared, laughing in delight when he saw how the batmobile indeed did flare up the headlights.  
He opened a channel. "Hey, Batsy, keep going, I have your back."

And when Bruce answered, "Found the remote, have you?" Alfred knew. Not from the fact that Tony Stark was helping without hesitation or even that Bruce accepted it in the same stride... but from the way the brown eyes lit up at hearing the voice of a lover.

Tony laughed and Alfred couldn't help chuckle with him. "Good going, Master Anthony," he said quietly enough for the other man not to hear him just then.

* * *

_**Lucius**_

Lucius didn't really know what to expect when Alfred greeted him at the door and said that another guest would be with them for dinner, but the smile on the butler's face seemed to know or hide something beyond that.

He was being led to the study.

"Master Bruce and his guest are in there. I will call you for dinner shortly."

"Thank you." Lucius opened the door and went inside. He saw Bruce right away, leaning close to someone sitting next to him on the sofa, and they appeared to be... yes, they were kissing and talking quietly.

Large rooms like this one had the downside of sounds of doors opening not transporting all that well, so Lucius made sure that him closing the door would be heard.

The two separated and turned around and... Oh, my. Lucius' lip quirked in amusement. He wondered if after a while he would realise why this shouldn't have surprised him, but as of now, he still was very much surprised, even though Bruce had told him that he wanted to introduce him to someone. Well, the _'someone'_ did give him a hint, that hint just didn't even begin to wave in the general direction of Tony Stark.  
What the hint _had_ shown him was that Bruce Wayne appeared... almost rapt. Lucius had known right away that he wouldn't be introduced to some actress or other, but someone significant. So this would obviously be how he would treat the situation as a whole.

"Lucius!" Bruce greeted him and stood, leading Tony towards the door with a hand on his back. He looked amused but not caught red-handed, which led Lucius to believe that maybe he was either meant to walk in on them, or they just didn't care if he did.  
Either way, it was a significant display of trust that Lucius felt rightfully proud of.

"Tony Stark, Lucius Fox," Bruce introduced.

"I've heard a great deal of intriguing things about you," Tony said while taking his hand.

Lucius smiled, very much intrigued in return. "Likewise, Mr Stark."

"Tony, please."

Yes, he had been right about the trust placed in him. He had of course been aware that Bruce trusted him, and apparently all it took for the same to apply to Tony Stark was Bruce's word that he could.  
"I wasn't expecting you until Monday, Tony."

Tony smirked. "No business, today. I'm just... visiting."

"I got that impression," Lucius nodded.

"Of course," Bruce added, sarcastically. "For Tony, upgrading the whole security system and God knows what else apparently constitutes as playing, not business."

Tony bickered right back. "The bat is not business, it's _spending_ money, cupcake."

Bruce very nearly pouted. "I'm trial testing equipment in the field," he explained, trying to sound serious but not really succeeding.

Tony snorted, accordingly.

"Like you don't to that." Bruce looked at him with a tilted head.

"Of course I do," Tony grinned. "And like you said, _I_ call it playing." He pondered that for a second. "Pepper calls it _'being a reckless idiot, again'_."

Lucius chuckled. "Sounds like something Alfred might say..."

Tony and Bruce grinned at each other in complete accord.

That was when Lucius knew without a doubt that those two could and would manage amazing things together. For the world as well as for them.

It was a... good image.

* * *

_**Dick**_

Dick knew…  
Well, Dick pretty much knew from the beginning, and he would continue to tell everyone that, too.

He had known that while Tony certainly didn't propose on the spot just because Dick pretty much dared him to, it would take the Iron Man no more than a month or two to realise that he _wanted_ to.  
And Dick was right.

* * *

_**Bruce**_

Bruce had realised very soon what it was that he wanted. Almost too soon. It had frightened him, because abandonment and betrayal issues don't just go away because you want them to.

So despite him trusting Tony almost from the very beginning, he never quite trusted himself, never really knew if he was worth what Tony apparently saw in him. It had always felt a bit like it was too good to be true. And he would have projected those fears on Tony, except that he had fallen too fast and hard for his feelings to let him. He would have felt guilty accusing Tony of things even only in his mind, though some of those thoughts were not that far-fetched if one knew the man's history. And Bruce did know that very well.

Nowadays, he was really grateful that his feelings kept him from accusing Tony of a number of things that he didn't do but that might have fit the profile of a careless womaniser. It could have destroyed their relationship before it ever would have had the chance to become anything substantial.

Nevertheless, some frightened part of him kept insisting that he would lose what he had now, most likely through his own stupidity. The day he knew he would not lose Tony through anything but death himself, happened to be today.

Bruce walked down the steps to Tony's shop. He had managed to tweak a day or two off work and had decided he might as well fly over and surprise the man. Tony certainly did that often enough. And since Dick had promised to keep an eye out for shenanigans in Gotham, while also promising to _not_ go out and solve any of those himself, he felt relatively sure that the world wouldn't come to an end if he disappeared for a bit.

Bruce held a cup of coffee in his hand that he was not entirely disinclined to share with Tony and smiled to himself. He typed in his code for the door and slipped inside.

Tony was standing with his back to Bruce at his work station and with a glowing projection in front of him.

"How long until we can get a stone like that, Jarvis?" Tony asked.

"I am estimating about two weeks to a month, Sir, but it is hard to say with the current market."

Bruce blinked and walked closer, curious about what it was that Tony needed that would be so difficult to get a hold of for a billionaire who usually just made what he wanted himself. He stepped around some instruments strewn about on the floor and from that angle could indeed make out the shape of the projection…  
His breath caught in his throat and he froze.

Tony sighed, still looking at the sketch. "Well, I have the measurements. I guess all I can do now is wait."

Bruce did a weird choking sound in his throat, even though he tried his hardest to hold it back.

Tony turned his head towards the sound, startled horribly when he saw Bruce standing there, knocked his own cup of coffee to the floor with an elbow and turned off the projection. "Fucking _Fuck_!" he cursed.

Bruce still stood there, his cup in hand and at a complete loss for words. How did one even react to seeing something like that?  
"Are… you alright?" he finally made himself say.

Tony was standing at his table, both fists on the surface, his shoulders slumped and his face downturned. He sighed and tilted his head to look at Bruce. "You saw it, didn't you?"

Bruce wanted to avert is eyes, but he didn't. "I'm sorry."

Tony raised his eyes heavenwards and sighed, again. Finally he shook his head in defeat and turned the enlarged projection of something that was really small in reality back on. "So what do you think?"

Bruce was still kind of shell shocked. He looked at the image, anyway. "Were you going to…?"

"Propose? Yes, actually." Tony crossed his arms and studied his design of the ring, again. "I was, however, going to do that when I actually had the damn thing finished." He huffed, sounding kind of annoyed with the fates for getting in the way of his plans.

Bruce slowly inched closer to the work desk, his eyes firmly on the ring. "Were you going to use an aquamarine?" The stone in the projection had a blue-ish glow to it.

Tony snorted. "Do you really think I'd propose with an aquamarine, cupcake?"

Bruce blinked. He didn't really care what kind of stone went in the damn thing; it was obvious that Tony put a lot of thought in the design.

"I wanted a light blue diamond." He nodded towards the projection. "I'd need about five to six carats." He rolled his eyes. "And as Jarvis informed me, they aren't all that easy to come by at exactly that hue and weight, apparently. At least not quickly."

Bruce knew that normally, this would have been the moment to either accept or refuse the proposal. Except that Tony didn't exactly propose, and Bruce didn't really know how to deal with a situation like that, anyway.  
"So, uh… you gonna let me design the one for you?" It was as good as an answer, he thought.

Tony's head shot up, and he stared at Bruce.

"I mean…" The informality and uniqueness of their… _dialogue_ didn't help ease his nervousness entirely, despite his efforts. He tilted his head towards the sketch. "This is obviously something from you to me." He waited for Tony to confirm.

Tony nodded, slowly.

"So I thought, you know… the other one should be something from me to you." His eyes fell on the ring. Tony probably chose titanium. It was a plain, broad band with a round gem in the middle. The only thing unusual about it was the markings around the stone. "It's your arc reactor, isn't it?"

Tony almost shuffled his feet, and only just caught himself in time before he actually could. He still looked away and did an odd nodding or shrugging or fidgeting movement with the whole of his upper body. "Well, you… do keep me going, cupcake."

Bruce had been right with his non-verbal accepting of the offer, that one was very clear by now. He smiled and pulled Tony into a deep kiss without another word. He kept it up long enough for Tony to return the tight hug, relax gradually and finally moan into the kiss.  
When he broke it, Tony looked a ravished mess. Bruce very much liked that.  
"Okay, off with you. It's my turn."

Tony blinked at him for a moment, then crossed his arms. "Hey! I showed you mine, now you should show me yours."

Bruce smirked. "You didn't _show_ me yours, cookie, I just saw." He pointed towards the stairs. "I won't be long."

Tony rolled his eyes, but left. "Spoilsport."

Bruce knew that Tony probably expected him to stay in the shop for quite some time. He smiled smugly when Tony looked at him in surprise when he resurfaced after hardly more than ten minutes.

Tony was standing next to the couch in the living room and had been looking out the window when he heard the steps.  
"That was quick…"

Bruce sauntered closer. "Well, the rings were supposed to match, right? So I just modified your design."

Tony met Bruce halfway and pulled him right into his arms, resting his forehead against the other's with closed eyes. He wanted to be happy, he really did, but… well. He had expected to have some time to let things sink in, to talk himself into presenting the ring, to ask the question and get down on a damn knee if he had to. He hadn't expected to be overwhelmed by his own surprise.  
"What are we doing, Bruce?" he asked, quietly.

"What we want?"

Tony opened his eyes and grinned. "Sounds like a plan?" He made it sound like a question. For someone who had come up with the idea in the first place, he was surprisingly insecure.

Bruce nodded and kissed him, softly.

"The press are going to have a field day. Day_s_, plural. _Weeks_," Tony said when he broke the kiss.

Bruce snorted. "Something you could have fun with."

Tony couldn't help but smirk. "Don't you worry about…?" he asked anyway.

"Naw." Bruce waved him off. "One secret is enough." The smile Tony gave him for this was worth fighting each and every doubt he'd ever had.  
"Oh," Bruce added, "the rings might take a little longer to get ready, though. A month or two."

This brought Tony back on his usual track. "Ex_cuse_ me?"

Bruce shrugged apologetically (and maybe a bit amused at Tony's antics).

"Do you have to keep trying to have one up on me?"

Bruce laughed out loud.

"I mean, seriously. I want to give you a six carat, light blue diamond, and you probably want a stone imported from _Venus_ or something! You are…"

Tony never did get to finish his sentence. Bruce kissed the living daylights out of him, mussing up his hair in the process.

"You don't play fair, cupcake," Tony complained, once they came up for air. He thought he might as well make himself comfortable in the embrace and put his head on Bruce's shoulder.

Bruce ran some fingers through the dark, floppy hair. "Besides, we have time. I'm gonna spend the rest of my life with you."

Tony's breath hitched just a bit and he tightened his hold on the other man.

And Bruce knew that he was right with what he had just said.

* * *

_**Tony**_

Tony was the last one to know. Or, rather, he was the last one to _believe_. He needed to be able to touch, to see. Things could be so flighty, otherwise. He needed the clear-cut, hands-on approach.

He needed the damn rings on both their fingers.

Tony ripped off this tie the moment he entered the front door. Pepper only just managed to catch it when he tossed it away.

"I'm telling you, those meeting get more boring every time."

"Expanding can be so tedious," Pepper agreed, smiling benignly, patting his shoulder.

"Are you patronising me?"

"Just a little."

Tony smirked.

Their banter was interrupted by the AI. "Good evening, Sir."

"Good evening, Jarvis. Any news?" He silently begged for the AI to tell him that he had a visitor. It didn't.

"The requested items have been assembled, Sir."

Tony stopped mid-movement and half-way into the living room. "Both of them?" he asked.

"Yes, Sir."

Pepper blinked at the sudden change of tone in Tony's demeanour. "What items?"

Oh, right. Tony now remembered never having told Pepper about that. He'd get quite the chewing out for the oversight, he knew.  
"Jarvis, put both of them in a box and get my suit ready," he said, his eyes on Pepper.

"You're leaving?" Pepper asked.

He sighed and kissed her forehead. "Miss Potts, I will be gone for the weekend. I have an engagement to make official."  
He sprinted off for the shop, Pepper audibly click-clacking after him and all but screeching an incredulous "What?!"

In the shop, Dummy turned towards Tony with a box in its grapple.

"Your box, Sir," Jarvis announced.

"Thank you," Tony said automatically, walking to the platform to get suited up.

"Tony!" Pepper interrupted him. She was not going to let him leave like that! This was not just any old news, it was important! "You're actually going to propose?" she asked when he turned around while stowing the box away.

Tony smirked. "Already did." He patted the pocket with the rings in it. "Bruce designed one of them."

Oh, hell, Pepper was going to get all teary-eyed, now, she could tell. She bit her lip and smiled. "Congratulations."

Tony hopped onto the platform. "Say, Pep, could you cook up something for the press?"

She rolled her eyes. It was so very like Tony to keep something like this to himself, even though she could have used the extra time to come up with a press plan.  
"Are you two going to walk around wearing matching rings come tomorrow?"

"Yep," Tony confirmed, cheerfully. "Well, not sure exactly how they match, I haven't seen the one Bruce made for me, but… Yep."  
The machine whirred around him, putting the armour on his body.

Before he closed the front shield of his helmet, Pepper stepped up to him and kissed his cheek. "Congratulations," she said, again. "And don't worry about the press. I'm taking care of it."

Tony smiled at her. "Thanks, Pep."

"Go get him." She smirked.

Tony winked and was gone within seconds.

Tony came up from the cave where he had parked his suit and was surprised not to be greeted by Alfred right away. The man must have been busy, then, since he always kept tabs of movements downstairs.

He finally heard some murmured voices in the study and headed there, opened the door and peeked inside.

Bruce was talking to Lucius. Sounded like business. Boring.

Tony closed the door and waited for the men to acknowledge him. He waved a little when they turned around.

Bruce immediately knew what this visit had to be about and shook Lucius' hand who smiled at him. They exchanged another few words, and Lucius met Tony by the door, while Bruce remained where he was.

Lucius now shook Tony's hand and leaned closer. "Congratulations," he said in hushed tones, before he left.

Tony smiled crookedly. Apparently, it had occurred to Bruce that it might be a good idea to warn people beforehand. Then again, Bruce had always been more organised than he was.  
Right now, his lover came towards him, so they were on the same wave length, again, and things like organisation didn't matter.

Bruce stopped maybe a foot away from him and took a deep breath. "Hey."

"Hey."

"Do you like it?"

Tony fumbled for the box in his pocket and took it out. "Dunno. I haven't looked at it. I wanted you to give it to me." He held out his hand, and Bruce took the box.

"You're kidding, right? For once in his life, Tony Stark wasn't too curious for his own good?" Bruce smirked, but for a smirk, it was very loving.

"Very funny," Tony replied, dryly.

The smirk vanished off Bruce's face when he opened the box and looked inside. For a long moment he did nothing else.  
"They look beautiful together," he said in awe, running a gentle finger over the rings.

Tony fidgeted. He still hadn't seen them. It was terribly unfair. "Bruce…"

Bruce was startled into a small laugh and looked up. "Sorry." He took out the ring Tony had made for him and snapped the box closed, again. "You first."

Tony took it and inspected it intently, twisting it around between his fingers. "Nice." It had turned out beautiful. It would look even more beautiful where it belonged.  
With a crooked finger he gestured Bruce to lift his left hand. He put the ring on the finger, effortlessly. "Like a glove," he noted, satisfied.

Bruce had to swallow. It did fit. So much. He cleared his throat. "My turn."  
He opened the box, again and smirked at the sight. "You know…" he started, taking the ring out, though making sure Tony couldn't see it, just then. "At first I just thought you'd like the colours."

Tony raised an eyebrow.

Bruce opened the hand the ring lay in, and Tony laughed. It was gold with a crimson stone and the arc reactor like markings were missing.  
"But then I realised…" Bruce threw away the box so that he had both hands free. He lifted Tony's left hand with his and slid the ring on the finger. He smiled a small smile and kissed the hand.

"What did you realise?" Tony didn't like one bit how hoarse his voice sounded.

Bruce held the hand firmly in his and looked up. "You kind of are the colour in my life, aren't you?"

Tony stared at him and blinked, rapidly. "If you're making me cry like a soppy idiot, I'm gonna kill you and destroy all evidence."

Bruce laughed and pulled his very new fiancé into a kiss.

Tony broke it too soon. "Also… please tell me that's not a diamond."

Bruce rolled his eyes. "Not this again."

"I mean, seriously, I didn't even think there were more than three diamonds _that_ red worldwide, and they're all smaller or microscopic!"

Bruce shrugged. "That one wasn't exactly on record."

"You're nuts, Wayne."

Bruce smirked. "Do you really think I'd propose with a ruby?" he threw Tony's words from two months ago back at him.

Tony smirked in return. "Nuts, but I kinda like it."

And when they kissed, again, Tony finally knew. Knowledge had never felt better.

**FIN**

_100327_


End file.
